Taking advantage of Half & Half or heavy cream on markdown

When I find half & half or heavy cream on  markdown, I buy a couple of quarts and freeze in ice cube trays. After the cream cubes are frozen, I pop them out into a large ziploc bag, and keep in the freezer. To use, I thaw, as needed, to add to sauces or my coffee.

These 4 cream cubes are for a pumpkin, sage and sausage pasta dish that I'm making tonight. I'll thaw them on the counter for an hour, before stirring into the pumpkin sauce.

In November, I found half and half creamer on markdown for 50 cents per quart. Then in December, I found the same brand on markdown for 75 cents per quart. Both prices I felt were good enough to buy some. A touch of cream can smooth out soups and sauces, which in turn leaves us very satisfied with meals at home.

A hint for popping the frozen cream cubes out of the tray: they're difficult to just pop out of the plastic tray, fresh out of the freezer. If I let the ice tray sit on the counter for about 3-4 minutes before popping out, they come out easily.

When we bought our current fridge/freezer with auto ice maker, I thought I would give the ice cube trays away. But I had a second thought to keep them. You never know when you'll need to freeze something in small quantities, like cream. What do you use your ice cube trays for?


(Note -- sometimes, but not always, milk and cream products separate when freezing and thawing. We've had good luck re-combining with a brisk stir.)

Winter vegetables for my frugal kitchen: Roasted chunks of winter squash

This is the last of the budget winter vegetable dishes that I'll share this week.

I haven't bought any veggies since December 17th, when I bought a 50-lb sack of onions. We've managed all of our meals with the vegetables on-hand, from the fridge, freezer and pantry. This is a huge savings for us, as looking at this week's ads for the local grocery stores, there are absolutely no veggies within my limits for what I'll spend on vegetables. The best I could possibly do this week, is 75 cents for canned green beans, or $1.50 for a bundle of fresh kale (and I can pick kale fresh in my own garden, even now in January).

On November 1, I did a big stock-up at the produce stand's clearance day. In all of that I bought a bunch of sugar pie pumpkins and winter squash. I cooked most of those pieces in November and December. But I saved a couple of them in the garage fridge. I cooked the last of the winter squash this past week, and have 2 sugar pie pumpkins remaining.


We like squash in many ways, mashed, whipped in a souffle, in breads and cakes, and also, in chunks, roasted in the oven.

Roasted cubes of winter squash

2 to 3 pounds of smooth-skinned winter squash, such as butternut squash, seeded, peeled and cubed to 1-inch cubes
2 tablespoons oil (olive is nice, but vegetable oil will also work)
1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
dash of black pepper
2 teaspoons finely minced, fresh herbs, such as sage or thyme (optional)

Butter a large baking sheet. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees F, with rack in the center of oven.

In a large bowl, toss squash pieces with the oil, salt, pepper and fresh herbs (optional). Spread out, in a single layer, on the prepared baking sheet. (If squash pieces are too close together, they don't caramelize as well, but instead tend to "steam" in the moisture of adjacent pieces.)

Place in the oven, and bake for about 35-40 minutes, (turning once after about 25 minutes), until the squash is tender and beginning to brown. Serve.

You can freeze roasted squash, to use later in risotto, soup or pasta dishes. The roasting adds a nice flavor to winter squash, both nutty and caramelized sweetness.


This past week, I've shared some of our family's vegetable dishes that we've enjoyed this winter. (Gee, it's felt like my kinder years and "show and tell"). Without the garden in full-swing, it has been something of a challenge to pull together meals, without too much repetition. But overall, we've been eating very well, even on our reduced grocery budget of $170/mo.

Have a great weekend!